Beautiful World Stamp of Approval

Back in April I purchased Catherine Pooler's fourth Stamp of Approval collection with the theme "Beautiful World," but because I was knee-deep in other projects I didn't break into it until this month! It was a long wait, but my first two card designs turned out pretty decent.

I tend to dive into projects that are very detailed and time-consuming, and then I get discouraged because it doesn't seem I'm making many cards at all. Once I finished the bendy cards (see previous post), I decided that I should start creating some very simple cards and see if I could make at least one in one evening. To my amazement, I created one card in a little over an hour, and then two of another design that emerged rather quickly after that. 

Card 1 was made with the stamp set Enchanted Garden by Sugar Pea Designs along with their Enchanted Butterfly die. I didn't use any special or fancy techniques; I just randomly stamped the images to create a floral collage. The hardest part (and it wasn't all that difficult) was choosing ink colors. I settled on the following Stampin' Up! inks: Gumball Green, Sweet Sugarplum, Flirty Flamingo, Peekaboo Peach, Pool Party, and Marina Mist. I stamped the sentiment with VersaFine Onyx Black because I like how that ink captures little details in a sentiment without spreading. I was tempted to break my "nothing fancy" rule and heat emboss to avoid smearing the black VersaFine, which is a pigment ink, but I decided to just be careful with the card front until the ink dried.

(Click photos to enlarge.)

The inside of the card matches perfectly:

I see myself making quite a few more of this card design because it's so quick and easy. I just love the whimsical designs of the flowers and leaves!

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Cards 2 and 3 are nearly twins. For both I embossed my favorite image from the Gina K. set Beautiful World in detailed clear embossing powder onto Whisper White and then sponged with Salty Ocean and Picked Raspberry. I embossed the sentiment from the CAS-ual Fridays stamp set All About You in detail white onto Basic Black cardstock, then used Stampin' Dimensionals to attach it to the front. The addition of the Elegant Butterfly die and some black sequins completed the cards.

The top card has some sequin-sized dots added to fill in empty spaces; and it amused me to use a half-sequin I found in the package from Pretty Pink Posh at the top of the card. The bottom card has more black sequins, (I wish I would have added fewer!), and the additional distress color of Wilted Violet.

The insides were simply sponged with matching distress ink, and then I added another Elegant Butterfly. Pretty easy!

I've barely gotten started with all the ideas I have for products in this Stamp of Approval collection, and when I pull in components from other collections, it feels like the possibilities will be endless! If you missed out on this or any SOA collection, you will be able to purchase most of the products in Autumn when Catherine Pooler opens her own online store. Cool, eh?

And if by chance you have no idea what the "Stamp of Approval" buzz is about, you can learn more about it at the website. I am still and always a huge fan of Stampin' Up! and its products (which is why I'm a demo!), but I do feel Catherine has created something really special with SOA. The products are both trendy and classic and are designed to work together amazingly well. In my experience they also play nicely with Stampin' Up! products, which is a huge bonus! 

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Tomorrow I'll be showing you two cards I made to celebrate the birthdays of two awesome young men. I'm pretty sure you'll be impressed with at least one of them!

Beautiful Smiles,

Joyce Spear a.k.a. Stamper Joyce